What If?
by Totally-Out-Of-It
Summary: AUish AkiHiki What if Hikaru Shindou had never existed. What if no one remembered who he was? What if Hikaru just...disappeared? ‘I’m haunted by the ghost of someone who never existed.’
1. Chapter 1

AUish AkiHiki What if Hikaru Shindou had never existed. What if no one remembered who he was? What if Hikaru just...disappeared? 'I'm haunted by the ghost of someone who never existed.'

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**Chapter 1 - Gone With The Wind**

A silent wind blew threw the tree tops of a silent city on a silent night. A figure wearing white with a black hat and purple hair stood watching a small boy sleep. His eyes were clouded and sad as he looked at this boy with two colors in his hair.

'_I'm sorry Hikaru. Truly sorry.'_ He whispered to the sleeping boy.

Hikaru didn't stir, he didn't know of the happenings in the world. Sai's eyes traveled to Hikaru's lower half, all of which was encompassed in a strange golden glow.

He'd been able to come back to Hikaru after all this time, but only because of the tragedy about to befall him. Hikaru had been so thrilled, he'd cried for half an hour, and had been so tired afterwards that there had been no time to explain. Now, Sai felt himself losing the confidence he'd had to tell Hikaru why he was back.

-

It was snowing, and Hikaru liked the snow. He'd just seen a few Go matches, and played a game with Waya. Everything seemed perfect in the world to him right now.

"Hey Sai." he said aloud.

They were in the park, but no one was there. So it was no harm to talk to the ghost aloud.

'_Yes Hikaru?'_ he asked.

"I feel so great right now. Kind of like I'm floating or something...Do you know why?" he asked innocently.

'_No. I don't know.'_ Sai lied, but Hikaru couldn't tell.

"Hmm...Guess I'll go home then. I need to train in order to beat Touya when I see him next." he laughed.

His eyes widened and his laughter turned to gasps. He felt a pulsation run through him, and it was painful. The teen fell to the ground, making a slight hole in the ever present snow.

"S-sai..." he managed. He was shaking badly.

'_Hikaru!'_ the ghost knelt next to him in the snow, but cursed his lack of ability to help.

Hikaru stopped shaking and took a few deep breaths. Sai could tell how scared he was, just by looking in his eyes.

"Sai...What just...happened?" he asked in a small voice, looking to the ghost for comfort. Sai merely shook his head.

-

Hikaru fell straight to sleep that night, tired from the day's events. Sai sat next to him and cried some tears that would never hit the ground.

'_I'm sorry this is happening so fast...I never meant for you to be in pain.'_ he whispered.

Hikaru's body was now completely enveloped in the golden light. Sai reached out to touch the boy's shoulder, but flinched away when wisps of the light attacked him.

'_Hikaru...' _he laid his hands back in his lap.

Hikaru merely groaned in his sleep.

-

Hikaru was careful the next day. He even told his mom he was sick so that he could stay home.

"I'm not sure what happened yesterday Sai. But I'll keep it away today." he assured the worried looking ghost next to him. "Let's just play a game, ok?"

'_If you feel up to it.'_ He nodded and Sai took a seat across the goban from him.

The game lasted longer than their previous ones, but Hikaru was pretty sure it wasn't because he had gotten closer to Sai's level. Sai had obviously gone easy on him. And he _never_ went easy on Hikaru.

"Hey Sai. Why'd you go easy on me this time?" he asked. "I'm not really sick, you know that right?"

'_Yes. I know.' _he smiled behind his fan. _'You should eat something though. It's dinner time.'_ Sai pointed to the clock moments before Hikaru's mother called out "Dinner's ready Hikaru!"

"Wow. You must be psychic." Hikaru winked as he laughed.

Sai smiled until he saw Hikaru's eyes shimmer gold.

'_Uh...Hikaru...'_ he tried, but the boy was already heading downstairs to eat._ 'It won't be long now.'_ he said sadly before following the one whose consciousness he inhabited.

-

Hikaru sighed, closing the door to his bedroom. He pat his stomach in content.

"Man. Mom's cooking gets better every time!" he joked with a laugh. He yawned. "I'm going to bed. Ok Sai?"

Sai nodded with a half smile. When Hikaru froze, a familiar pulsation running through his body, he fell to the floor with a loud thud.

'_Hikaru!'_ Sai yelled once more, kneeling next to his charge and wishing he could make this easier for the boy.

"Wh-what's happening?" Hikaru asked.

'_I'm sorry Hik-'_

"Hikaru? Hikaru what's wrong? I heard a loud noise." his mother's voice drifted in from the other side of the door.

"M-mom?" Hikaru managed before another pulsation made any talking futile. "Ah!"

It hurt. It hurt a lot!

The shaking had worsened and for a brief moment, Hikaru wondered if he was actually really sick. His mom's knocking on the door increased in frequency, but the noise just seemed to hurt Hikaru's ears.

"Augh...Ah!" was all he managed to make out as it seemed his body was being torn to shreds.

"Hikaru! I'm coming in if you don't open this door in 5 seconds!" his mother replied loudly. "5...4...3...2..."

A swift wind blew southwards down the street, blowing every leaf in the trees nearby, every blade of grass. The woman outside the bedroom door opened it to see a room filled with boxes that had yet to be unpacked since her and her husband moved in.

"What did I come in here for again? Oh well..." she closed the door and proceeded down the stairs to the kitchen, humming happily.

A group of teens walking down the street covered their faces for a split moment while the wind hit their faces, before they continued on their way to a Go Salon, in which sat a boy alone at a goban.

His hair was iron straight and he seemed to be contemplating something deeply. He looked up as the wind blew the trees outside roughly, then looked down at the board.

"What...game was I replaying again?" he asked in confusion before clearing the board and starting a game his father had recently played.

And the boy with bleach-blonde bangs was nowhere...Gone with the Wind.

-

**Do you want previews?**


	2. Chapter 2

I like how you all like the first chapter. It doesn't really explain much, does it? But I'm worried about your enthusiasm. I myself don't like how the story plays out. I had a writing death for awhile and couldn't make myself write anything. So all the scenes and chapters I wrote just seemed so bland and stupid. I hope that it was just my own stupidity, so that I'm not posting some piece of junk. -quaint smile-

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**Chapter 2 - Hope**

"_Hikaru. Hikaru wake up." _a calm voice coaxed.

Golden colored eyes blinked open and a groan escaped the boy.

"_Sai?"_ he whispered, sitting up. _"Ah! My head is killing me...What happened?"_

"_Something terrible." _the ghost whispered back sadly.

"_Sai?"_ he looked to the ghost and the sky behind him._ "Huh?"_ he looked down. _"Ah!"_

Below him for a long while was nothing but air, and far below was the ground. Clouds surrounded them.

"_Sai what happened!? Why are we in the air!?"_ he asked in fright, grabbing onto the ghost in his fear. He paused. _"I...you're solid..." _he managed.

"_No..." _Sai shook his head. _"It's just that we are the same now."_ he explained.

"_What do you mean?"_ Hikaru asked, not letting go for fear he would fall.

"_You are Hikaru Shindou now. And forever will be to me. But no one else will remember you as anything more than maybe a passing dream. Forgotten when they awaken."_ he looked down, eyes closed.

"_What are you talking about Sai?" _Hikaru didn't even realize that he'd let go.

"_I possessed your consciousness...And it was slowly eating it's way at you. At your soul..."_ Sai's was talking so softly, Hikaru could barely hear him._ "You've become...a ghost Hikaru."_

Hikaru stared at him for a moment before he began screaming.

"_Whhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!"_ it echoed for a split second, but no one heard him except Sai.

-

Sai was now walking down the street, side by side with Hikaru. The boy had yet to talk to him since they'd landed on the ground. He walked with his hands in his pockets, looking to the floor and ignoring the ghost he'd had as a friend.

Sai was about to say something to him, when Hikaru's head snapped up and he spotted Waya, a friend of Hikaru's, walking with other people Hikaru knew.

"_Guys!" _he called happily._ "Guys it me!"_ he ran to stand in front of them, but they walked right through him._ "Guys? Waya? Isumi?"_ he asked softly, turning to face them. _"Guys?"_

"_I'm sorry Hikaru." _Sai said again.

"_Stop apologizing!"_ Hikaru yelled, causing Sai to look up at him. _"Just stop it already! There is nothing you can do about it, so stop."_

Hikaru seemed to be smiling at him as it began to rain. They both looked up, impervious to the weather. It made it hard for Sai to tell if Hikaru had started crying or not, as he could see the rain through the other boy.

A girl ran through them on her way home in the rain and Hikaru gasped.

"_Akari?" _he breathed before running after her.

She ran to Hikaru's house and he smiled slightly. It was the same Akari. Always asking if Hikaru was home.

"Good evening Akari, do you need something?" Mrs. Shindou asked kindly.

"I just wanted to know if you needed any help unpacking before I decided to go home. Besides, you make great cookies for hard workers." Akari smiled, and Hikaru frowned.

Help? What did his mother need help with?

"Thank you Akari. But I think you should be heading home. Look at all this rain!" she laughed. Akari nodded.

"Alright. I'll be over tomorrow after school to help out, I promise!" she called and Hikaru's mom waved her good-bye.

"_Sai...Did Akari forget me? Did Waya and the others forget me?" _he asked, remembering the ghosts words from earlier. _"Did...did mom and dad...forget all about me!?" _he asked, turning to face the older man.

"_Hikaru...I'm-"_

"_Stop it!" _Hikaru yelled before running off.

"_Hikaru!"_ Sai called after him as he ran away.

-

Hikaru sat outside of a familiar go salon the next day. Now that he'd become a ghost too, Sai couldn't follow him everywhere, so the ghost wasn't with him. The rain was gone, but he was still there. Still in the same clothes he'd worn the day before.

He wondered if maybe he would suddenly become visible, tangible, real. He wondered if anyone would stare at him for sitting outside like that all day and all night. But no one ever stopped and asked "Hey Kid. You alright?" or "Are you insane?"

No one gave him a glance. No one knew he was there. And it hurt. Hikaru didn't like being ignored. He'd never been ignored by anyone but Touya, and even then it hadn't been real ignoring. He'd been pretending.

Sai suddenly floated down next to him.

"_Go away."_ Hikaru whispered bitterly.

"_Hikaru. I can help you!"_

"_Really? How!?"_ he asked angrily, looking up at the ghost with a glare.

"_If-if someone were to remember you. Even just _one_ person...Then you can go back. You can stay here."_ Sai said quickly, knowing Hikaru didn't want him avoiding a direct answer.

"_Just...one..."_ Hikaru repeated softly just as someone walked through him to go into the Go salon.

"_Have people been doing that...all day?"_ Sai asked at Hikaru's calm expression.

"_Yes."_ it was brief. His face then contorted in rage. _"And it's getting annoying! I hate this! No one can see me or hear me or feel me! I don't exist!"_ By this point, the boy had begun to walk around throwing a tantrum. _"I want someone to notice me!"_

A boy with green-ish hair, iron straight, walked right through him and paused. He blinked and turned around, then continued in to the Go Salon. Sai and Hikaru exchanged looks of half-shock before simultaneously mumbling _"Touya?"_

They raced in to the salon and searched for the boy. It wasn't hard, he was at the same spot he always was in. They raced over, not noticed by everyone else, and for some reason went _around_ all the tables and chairs.

Hikaru sat down across from the boy and stared intently at him as he began placing stones down on the board.

"_Hikaru...Maybe you shouldn't stare."_ Sai commented. He stopped and stared when Akira paused in his game and looked up.

"_He knows I'm here..."_ Hikaru whispered, as if afraid his talking would break this spell.

Akira's eyes were a bluish green color, Hikaru noticed for the first time. The intensity he was used to seeing had been replaced with quiet confusion.

"_Touya?"_ Akira blinked, and made a movement almost as if he'd heard the smaller boy. _"Touya, can you..."_

Hikaru reached out, slowly, and he slid right through Touya's shoulder. Akira shivered at the sudden cold. Hikaru, who had fallen through the table, stood up and walked to a darker corner of the room, leaning as if he could touch the wall.

"_Hikaru?"_ Sai asked tentatively, as he neared.

"_Touya!"_ Hikaru yelled suddenly. _"It's Touya! He can tell I'm there!"_ he motioned towards the boy who was looking around in confusion now. _"He could help me, but..."_

"_Hikaru. We should hang around him for a while."_ Sai cut in.

"_Huh?"_ Hikaru looked up at him.

"_Stay with him Hikaru. He may remember you." _Sai smiled.

"_He didn't even know who I was..."_ Hikaru pouted as he left the store.

Akira had gone back to recreating a game.

"_Akira."_ Sai whispered as he sat down across from the boy. (Why can they sit in chairs?) _"Akira listen to me."_

Akira paused for a moment, hand hovering over the board as if he didn't know what move to make next.

"_Hikaru needs you now. You're the only one who can help him."_ Sai continued. _"Please...Just try. Can you remember who he was?"_ Akira then set the stone down on the board and his eyes widened.

"What...what move was that?" he asked softly. "I don't remember that in the game." he started contemplating it.

"_Akira?"_ Sai tried again. But Akira was oblivious to his existence. So the ghost sighed and decided to go find his former host.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Haunted**

"_Touya! Wait!"_ a boy called. He turned around to looked. _"If you keep chasing a shadow of me...Then the real me is gonna catch up to you someday!"_

He smirked sadly.

"_Why someday? Let's play a game right now."_ he answered. The boy seemed sad as he paused. _"Hmph."_ he turned and walked away.

"Akira! Akira are you awake yet!?" a voice called through the door accompanied by a knock.

Greenish eyes snapped open and he sat up.

"What?" he wondered quietly. The knocking persisted and he grumbled. "Yes mother! I'm up!" he called to her.

"Oh. Just making sure. Usually you've already eaten breakfast and left by this time." he could hear her walk away.

He held back the desire to curse, as Akira Touya never cursed. He then looked down at his hands as they became fists, bits of cover held between each finger.

'_I don't understand...What was that?'_ he asked. _'I don't remember that ever happening. I don't remember that boy.'_

-

"_Hikaru! Hikaru come back! Wait for me!"_ Sai called out childishly.

"_If you can't keep up...Then I'm not waiting."_ he said in his usual tone.

"_You haven't changed a bit from before Hikaru. You're still mean to me!"_ Sai whined.

"_That's a lie and you know it."_ Hikaru smiled widely. It seemed normal, everything being the way it was now...

That is, until he missed the bridge and walked on air to the other side of the river. He stopped halfway there and looked down, eyes closed.

"_I keep forgetting I'm not real."_ Hikaru mumbled. Sai caught up.

"_I keep telling you to follow Akira Touya around. I do believe that he will remember you."_

Sai seemed to be enjoying himself. He'd never gotten to walk over the water when Hikaru was normal.

"_I'll try my other friends first, thanks."_ Hikaru was stubborn, Sai had to give him that.

-

"_Waya! Hey Waya can you hear me!? WAYA!"_ Hikaru yelled, right next to his friend, who was playing go at the moment with Isumi. _"You're such a bonehead!"_

The read head didn't move, except to continue his game.

"How do you suppose we'll do at the next tournament?" Waya asked suddenly, catching the two ghosts and Isumi off guard.

"Tournament? I don't know. But I think some of us might have a chance at getting close." Isumi said in his quiet voice.

"Close? I think it's a better chance that one of us will get close too, but wouldn't it be great if we won?" Waya asked, capturing a stone, only one.

Hikaru was getting bored of talk about a tournament he couldn't participate in.

"_Isumi. Come on man, you have _got_ to be able to hear me. Sense me? Anything!!!!!"_ he yelled in the tall boy's ear.

Growling, Hikaru lunged at them both. Of course, he ended up just flying through everything and landing hard on the floor. (Why don't they just go through the floor?) Neither of them moved save for a slight shiver from Isumi.

"_Dammit!"_ Hikaru cussed and Sai gasped. _"This really stinks! I have to go ask Akari!"_

-

The young girl walking down the street was oblivious to the ghost boy her age that kept yelling at her and jumping through her. She couldn't tell that she kept walking through him. After awhile, Hikaru gave up and gave Sai a look that said 'Don't say anything!'

He then tried Yuki. The boy was sitting in a go salon, trying to con people out of their money.

"_Wow Hikaru! Look where he'd be if it weren't for you!"_ Sai claimed.

But not even Yuki could tell he was there. He'd tried just staring at the boy, after his other tactics gave way. No reaction. It was dark, and Yuki had left when Hikaru gave up.

"_Maybe...at your school?"_ Sai asked. Hikaru shook his head.

"_Nah. Without me there was no Go club. So I don't know where'd they'd be anyway."_ he waved a hand at the ghost as they walked down the street.

"_Then what about Touya?"_ Hikaru stopped walking.

"_Give it up!"_ He yelled. _"I don't know where he lives or where he is now anyway!"_

Sai pointed behind him.

"_What!?"_ he turned around and blinked when Akira Touya walked through him, shivered, and pulled his coat closer to him before continuing. _"Oh...Touya wait!"_

Hikaru and Sai turned and started following the young go prodigy.

"_I can't believe we're following Touya home. I feel like a stalker."_ Hikaru grumbled, walking on Akira's right, Sai to his left.

-

Akira woke up the next day, feeling a familiar chill in his room. He'd first felt it the day before yesterday, at his father's Go Salon. Then yesterday on his way home. Now it was here when he first woke up!

"_Look! He's awake!"_ Hikaru called from his spot against the wall. (Why don't they fall through the walls?) Sai blinked his eyes open. (Do they sleep?)

"This is...strange..." Akira mumbled, standing up and walking to his closet. "It is unusually cold this morning."

"_Hikaru! Did you hear!? He knows we're here!"_ Sai cheered, jumping on Hikaru's head and making them both fall to the floor.

"_Sai!"_ Hikaru grumbled.

"_Hikaru! Hurry! He's out the door!"_ Sai jumped up and raced after the teen, Hikaru sluggishly following behind.

-

"_Well that had to be the most boring day ever..."_ Hikaru grumbled, following Akira Touya back to his house that night. _"All he did was play go! And I know, Go is awesome. But I can't play so it gets really bor-"_ he paused. _"Sorry Sai. I never realized..."_

"_No Hikaru."_ Sai assured him. _"I enjoyed watching you play. It was fun watching you grow stronger..."_

Hikaru smiled at him and Sai was glad for the change to his regular demeanor.

"_But I _am_ getting bored of watching Touya play teaching games and games against nobody!"_ The teen wined.

Sai laughed. Akira walked inside, Hikaru and Sai phasing through the door, and greeted his mother. After a short, silent dinner, Akira walked up the stairs and to the bathroom.

Hikaru leaned against a wall, creating small talk with Sai as Akira took his shower. Then, an idea struck him.

Akira finished up and he wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked over to the mirror and paused. Words were written in the thin 'fog' on the glass.

"Do you...remember...me...Touya?" he read quietly. "Remember?" he breathed out again.

'_What is this? A...a ghost?'_ he asked in his mind, so he received no answer.

'_Touya! Wait!'_ he remembered from his dream.

"Who...who _are_ you?" he asked in a hushed whisper.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Sai**

Akira had gotten a little bit paranoid over the last few days. Ever since he'd received the message on his mirror, he'd been looking around for the ghost. He knew that it was futile, because ghosts were invisible, right? But it wasn't just the message.

He'd started dreaming. Akira often found himself awakening during dreams about someone he didn't know, and they would fade soon after, so he had no time to really contemplate them. He could never remember what the mystery boy looked like, or what his name was. But he knew that the boy in his dreams was the ghost that was haunting him.

Hikaru had found that, while sticking with someone, he could hear their thoughts. He didn't like that Akira thought of this as 'haunting.' It was more of...forced remembering. Besides the mirror incident, he hadn't even been able to affect the real world. But, Akira could deal with this in his own way, because Hikaru was dealing with it in _his _own way too.

Akira headed towards the institute that day, even though he didn't have a game or an opponent. Halfway there though, he changed his plans and went to his father's go salon. He sat at back table after telling Ichikawa that he didn't feel up to playing anyone today. Hikaru sat across from him, and Sai stood behind Hikaru. It was as if they'd come to play a game together, but there was only one of them there.

Akira started playing a game by himself, and Hikaru's finger's itched to play against him. Hikaru realized that this must have been how Sai had felt watching him play too. He felt kind of bad for how he treated the ghost, and his head turned to look over his shoulder.

"_It's alright Hikaru."_ Sai assured him, apparently still able to know what he was thinking.

Hikaru shook his head and looked back to the board, sighing dejectedly. It wasn't alright. Hikaru's eyes blinked and widened when he saw the game Akira was playing. The first game that had ever been really Hikaru Shindou versus Akira Touya. But that game...

"Stop kidding around." Akira muttered suddenly, and both ghosts' heads snapped up to look at him.

"_Touya?"_ Hikaru asked, and Akira blinked and looked around. When the go prodigy looked at the board again, he seemed surprised.

"Why am I playing a game like this? Whose game is it anyway?" he asked himself in a whisper. "It's so ill thought out and...well...bad." he shook his head and moved to put the stone in his hand back in it's bowl.

Hikaru glanced at Sai in excitement and reached out to the bowl of black stones. His hand was shaking. He was so close. If he could only...If he could only show Touya that he was here. If Touya could remember this much of the game, then one more move...one...more...move...

_Clack..._

Akira paused after placing his stone, the one he'd been holding, back in the bowl. That noise. It was the sound of a go stone hitting the board. But it was so close, the stone must have been played on his own board. But there was no one across from him!

Akira scanned the go board and noticed an extra stone. His eyes widened.

"How?" he asked in a breathy voice. "I didn't..."

Hikaru looked from his hand to the go stone he'd placed to Akira. He stood up and went to Akira's bowl, taking a stone out and placing it down on the board. Akira had been so stunned by the new piece, that he didn't notice Hikaru's move until the stone was on the board and had made a noise.

"Another stone...How are they getting to the board?" he wondered aloud. Logically thinking, he just forgot they were there. But no, he stared defiantly across the board. Someone was here, placing them as he sat. But who? The next move was black's.

Hikaru looked at Sai.

"_He's getting it."_ Sai smiled widely at him. _"Sit down and play some more Hikaru. You're getting through to him!"_

Hikaru smiled and sat down in the chair across from Akira, putting his hand in the bowl. Akira's eyes shifted to the bowl at the sound of the stones clacking together, and Hikaru smiled. He found that he liked having Akira's attention solely on him.

Akira's eyes widened as he saw a black stone rise slowly from the bowl, and then move for the board. He watched as it quickly landed on a point of the board and narrowed his eyes. That move was just as bad as the rest of the game. He looked up to the place in front of him as if expecting to see who was sitting there and held his forehead.

He could see...A boy. A boy younger than him. He seemed so nervous, or excited. His bangs were bleached blonde but the rest of his hair was black. He didn't look like he even knew how to play go. But...something about that boy.

'_He's the one in my dreams.'_ Akira gasped softly. _'The boy who...I chased. I chased?'_

Hikaru smiled at Akira's thoughts.

"_He's remembering!"_ he whisper yelled, so happy it was awkward.

-

"Akira Touya. I am your opponent." he said determinedly.

"If so, then show yourself to me." Akira demanded softly.

"You know yourself that I can't do that." he responded with a smirk.

"But why not!?" Akira asked suddenly, with more ferocity than he'd intended. The other boy didn't flinch, but he looked away and to the sky.

"Because I'm-" the audio on this little recording suddenly blipped and faded, and Akira couldn't hear the rest of the sentence.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, reaching out to grab at the other boy, one who was younger than him but older than the first vision. Akira gasped when he fell forward and kept falling, through the boy and down into a black abyss.

Akira let out a yell as he sat up in bed and looked around, sweat dripping from his face. Hikaru floated over from his spot next to Sai in the corner.

"_Hikaru?"_ Sai asked. _"What did you do?"_

"_I just...I brushed his hand last night when he fell asleep. I didn't think it'd do _that_." _he shook his head and floated around Akira worriedly. They may not have been extremely close, but Hikaru wasn't one for unnecessary pain.

"_Hikaru?"_ Sai called uncertainly.

"_Hm?"_ Hikaru looked up at the ghost, who was smiling at him sadly.

"_I don't think you need me here, to get back to how you were."_ Sai explained.

"_What do you mean?"_ Hikaru asked.

"_I was allowed to come back, because the strain I had put on you was too great...and I was supposed to warn you of the danger of this happening. But with every passing day, I wanted less and less to tell you, I wanted it to never happen. But now it has happened, and I have no need to be here anymore."_

"_That's a lie!"_ Hikaru yelled from his spot on Akira's bed. (Again, why not fall through the bed?)

"_No. That's how it really is. You don't need me now."_ Sai looked sadly at him, tears running down his cheeks._ "You've done it before, and you can do it again. All I can really tell you now is to regain your life and pick up the pieces...or die forever."_

Hikaru could already see Sai vanishing, but his body wouldn't move. Then Sai smiled at him and was gone. Hikaru lowered his head to hide his eyes with his bangs.

Akira looked up from his lap, where he'd felt a tear hit. But there was noone and nothing there to drip on him. Akira slowly reached out a hand to just above himself and stopped when the air got colder, then pulled back. Using this method, he managed to 'wrap his arms around' the ghost he knew was there...crying.

Hikaru cried, knowing that Akira was trying to comfort him. It was something he'd never imagined Akira Touya doing for him, but it was nice. He found it easier for him then it was for Akira to touch the other boy, so he held Akira around the waist. Akira shifted his hold to the new position after shivering to Hikaru's cold-death touch.

"Sai..."

Akira raised his head a bit in confusion. But slowly it became a realization. Sai, the online player that no one could figure out. Even if Hikaru was gone, Sai wasn't, he was still the enigma.

Akira now had a clue.


	5. Chapter 5

**I've been holding out on you people because you wouldn't review to chapter frickin four! But one person did, so here's chapter 5.**

**Chapter 5 - Message**

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Hikaru floated around in the air at the foot of Akira's bed as the other teen sat at his computer. He was still moping around from yesterday, which he'd noted was May 5th. He hated that day. Akira turned to look at the foot of his bed for a moment, then turned back to the computer.

Akira had found that he could now tell where the ghost was. After it, _he _had cried on him, Akira had been able to tell where the colder air was, where the ghost was. But the tears hadn't been wet. Akira had felt them hitting him, but there was no water of any sort on his shirt, no dampness at all.

He also didn't understand how this ghost could touch him, how he himself could tell that it was there in the first place. He'd have to do some research to figure out who it was, who had died lately that he might know.

"_I won't be in there. You won't find anything." _Hikaru whispered, but Akira just kept on, looking up anything he could about Sai for the next few hours. He then sighed.

"He was such a big deal before, but there's so little information about him that's actually known." Akira complained aloud to himself. Hikaru stood up.

'_That's because half of the truth has disappeared.'_ he thought sadly.

"I guess it wasn't much of a clue to you after all huh?" Akira turned to the foot of his bed and blinked. The cold air...where was it? He looked around and froze when he suddenly felt the ghost right next to him. "Don't do that. You scared me." he chastised, and Hikaru laughed. Akira blinked. "Did you just, laugh at me?" he asked.

Hikaru backed away with a gasp. Akira had heard him!?

"_You can hear me?"_ he asked in awe. Akira didn't answer and seemed to have started contemplating the possibilities. Hikaru frowned. _"So close."_

-

Hikaru found himself enjoying Akira's presence more and more since Sai left. He was almost happy to follow Akira around everyday, even if it was boring. He was agitated that he was missing so many matches. He knew that Akira could sense him too, so well that if he even moved to the left of where he had been, Akira knew it.

Akira himself had come to terms with the ghost haunting him. It wasn't trying to hurt him, even though it was obvious that this ghost could effect the living world. That fact, strangely didn't scare him. To him, it seemed that this ghost just wanted to be noticed...to be noticed by him.

The only question he could ask was, why him? Why did the ghost chose him? Maybe...he looked up from his enemy-less goban as he remembered the first chill he'd ever felt. That gave him an idea as to why he was haunted.

"Ghost-san?" he asked, and suddenly the cold air current was sitting across from him. He smiled. "Did you pick me for a reason? I've been wondering about this." he placed another stone and sat back to see if the ghost would make a move. "I've just remember where I think I first met you."

Hikaru heart skipped a beat and he dropped the stone he'd been holding. Akira seemed both concerned at this and yet happy.

"As a ghost, I mean."

Hikaru frowned and picked up the stone, placing it where he supposed the next play would be. He'd seen this game, but he couldn't quite remember who it was played by.

"At the go salon." Akira said as he placed his own stone. "A lot of people walk through that door. And though it's getting colder everyday...it shouldn't have been that chilly. I believe that I might have...walked through you." he blushed at that. "Sorry about that."

Hikaru almost laughed. Almost. Instead, he kept playing, hoping that Akira knew he was right. Hikaru was also happy that even if he stayed a ghost forever, he could still play Akira in Go.

Suddenly, the lights flashed off, and the tv came on. Downstairs, Akira heard his mother say something about a power outage and he heard her fumble around looking for a flashlight or something. But Akira and Hikaru were focused on the tv.

Akira saw fuzz, but there was a strange noise coming from his tv. Wait, why did he have a tv anyway? He never watched it. Oh well, that noise. It sounded almost like someone talking. Akira suddenly was reminded of a phenomenon called 'White Noise.' It was supposed that this noise came from ghosts. So he turned to the ghost across from him, but that cold air was frozen stiff. (Hah, that's kinda funny.)

Hikaru didn't see fuzz. He saw Sai. Sai's face was on the screen, looking directly at him. Sai was talking to him.

"_Hikaru hurry!"_ he warned, looking afraid. _"I didn't tell you something important, and I'm sorry for leaving so soon. But you have to have someone remember you quickly. In 3 days, it'll be too late!"_

"_Sai..."_ Hikaru whispered. But the screen ghost just frowned, and then he faded away and the tv shut off. Then the power came back on and Akira's mother cried out in victory against the fuse box._ "Sai!"_

Why did Sai keep having to appear to him!? It wasn't fair! He was trying to get over his disappearance again, so why did he have to keep coming back? Hikaru blinked and turned to Akira, who was staring intently at him.

"_Hey, don't look at me. I didn't do it."_ he huffed, all thoughts (well, almost all) of the current event blowing from his mind as he floated away to the bed.

Akira sighed and cleared the board of Go stones, then put them away and decided to go to bed. But not before also deciding to look up the recent deaths in his area. Maybe he could find out who his ghost was.

* * *

Please Review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Voice**

Akira pulled his chair in as he sat at his computer. He stared at the blank screen for a long while before finally turning it on and logging online. Hikaru wasn't in the room, and the lack of cold air was making Akira feel two things.

He was feeling warm in his long sleeved shirt, and he was feeling insecure.

This baffled him. Why would the lack of a ghost make him feel insecure? Why did the possibility that the ghost boy had left make him feel so alone...like he had no purpose anymore?

"_Even though I no longer exist, we're still chasing one another, huh Touya?"_ Hikaru asked sadly, fazing into the room and into the chair next to Akira.

Akira turned his eyes to the side slightly before looking back to his computer and typing in his search. He let out a sigh of relief, one so small it almost didn't exist, but Hikaru heard it. It was almost as if Akira had become dependant on Hikaru's being there. That's why he had set up the chair, so that the ghost boy might come back...

'_If you have place in this world, then there is a reason to stay, right?'_ he reasoned. _'I gave him a place with that chair...so he couldn't leave.'_

It was stupid to think that way, but Akira liked to think that he gave this ghost a reason to stay. It was...comforting...to know that someone needed you there to sustain themselves...to survive...or...not.

A lot of the time, Akira's thoughts were quite boring to Hikaru. But at times like these, when Akira was almost like a little kid again, it was interesting and almost...sweet? He enjoyed it, and laughed, and sometimes Akira could hear him.

Akira clicked on one of the search results and saw that it was a list of all deaths in the past few years, and disappearances guessed to be deaths. Each recording included a short description and/or a picture, the date of birth and the date of (sometimes supposed) death, and a lot of meaningless information. Oh, and their age.

Akira decided to go by what he could remember of all his strange dreams. He knew that this wasn't a boy like most. So he marked off all the girls and any really plain guys, and everyone that wasn't his age. He also marked off anyone with a strange hair color, like pink or blue.

There were very few candidates left after he'd finished deciding what he was looking for. Three guys left. He stared at them, read their descriptions, stared some more and closed the webpage.

"None of them." he grumbled.

'_My ghost plays Go, they didn't. My ghost gives off this light, that even in a picture...I know I'd feel it. He wasn't any of them...'_ Akira felt tears pricking at his eyes as he leaned back in his chair, his face to the roof.

"_I coulda told you that much."_ Hikaru stated. He then saw the tears and blinked in confusion._ "Come on Touya, it's not that big a deal!"_

Akira didn't seem to hear him, and he moved closer.

"_Touya? Please don't cr-Oh, you're crying."_ Hikaru almost freaked out. Touya Akira didn't cry._ "Touya? Touya! Come on, stop it! You're gonna make me-Now look, I've started crying!"_

Hikaru wiped his eyes fiercely, angry at himself for getting upset.

"_I'm sure you'll figure it out in time...so...so stop crying Touya..."_ he said, tears thick in his voice.

Akira opened his eyes into just barely slits, staring blankly at the ceiling as the tears slid silently down his cheeks in thin lines.

"_I'm not worried that I'll vanish...Because I trust you...Touya..." _Hikaru glared at the floor._ "You're still crying Touya! You're still crying! _Stop crying Akira Touya! Stop crying!"

Akira's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, staring straight ahead as the tears suddenly stopped.

"Shindou."

Hikaru looked up from wiping his eyes and saw awe in Akira's own eyes. Akira had just...

"_Touya?"_ he asked. _"Did you just-? Touya?"_

"You're Shindou." Akira said, as if to himself. "But who is Shindou...?"

"_Th-that's right."_ Hikaru's face suddenly cleared of tears and he smiled. _"You're getting it Touya! You're getting it! You're getting me!"_

He hadn't felt so happy in a long time.

-

Akira hadn't felt so frustrated in a long time.

He'd looked through every source he could think of, and some really offhand ones too. But no place he'd looked had had any reference to a young Shindou boy, especially not one who'd died!

He would've questioned if he'd been right about the last name...but the cold air had gotten a bit warmer when he'd said it. Akira wasn't sure if that meant that the ghost was happy or what, but it told him he was right. Now after searching for hours trying to find his ghost, he was feeling like giving up.

"I'm sorry." he said out loud, sadly. "I'm sorry that I can't find you. I know you were counting on me, and even I thought that I'd be able to figure this out. But I can't. So I'm sorry."

Hikaru glared at him. How dare he say that!

"You can't give up Akira! We must always chase each other!" he yelled. "So don't you stop running all of a sudden!"

"You're the one who stopped running first, stupid!"

Akira and Hikaru both froze where they were. Akira lifted his head off of his desk, where he'd been contemplating banging his head against the wood, and looked towards the cold air spot. Hikaru just stared back.

"_Did you just hear what I said?"_ Hikaru asked.

"Did you just call me Akira?" Akira asked, apparently _not _hearing Hikaru's question.

"_Oh well, so close too."_ Hikaru lowered his head in disappointment.

"So close to what? You didn't answer my question." Akira seemed angry. Hikaru looked up into the glare of his rival.

"_Uh...yes? I did?"_ he tried uncertainly.

"Are you...Shindou?" he asked. Hikaru smiled.

"_You_ can _hear me!"_

"Um...yes...Apparently I can." he nodded and looked towards the computer again.

"_Great!"_ Hikaru cheered, then paused. _"But _why _can you hear me?"_

Akira shrugged.

"Who are you, and why are you haunting me?" he asked instead.

"_I'm not supposed to be dead."_ Hikaru stated almost calmly. _"I was possessed by a ghost several years ago, and that isn't as bad as it sounds really." _he grinned.

"So...you're not dead?" Akira asked, thinking that this was merely the boy's spirit and that his body was walking around somewhere.

"_Well, as far as the world is concerned...I never existed."_ Hikaru looked at the ground, but he could tell that Akira was confused. _"I don't really understand either. But I do know that you have to remember me. You just _have_ to."_ he said determinedly.

"Remember you? Who _are _you?" Akira asked, not looking in Hikaru's direction anymore, but staring straight ahead.

"_My name is...Shindou."_ Hikaru gasped. _"..."_ he held his throat.

"Is something wrong?"

"_I can't...I can't say my name!"_ he fizzled away and reappeared on Akira's bed, sitting on the side of it. _"I can't..."_

"That's what I have to remember, isn't it Shindou?" Akira asked calmly, noting how frantic the boy seemed. Hikaru looked up at him, looking like he was about to cry, and nodded...even though Akira couldn't see it.

-

By the next day, Hikaru and Akira had found that even though Akira could now hear Hikaru...most of the time anyway, he couldn't give his rival any clues to his name. Not what letter it started with, not what sounded like it, nothing. And sometimes, Akira couldn't hear him talk at all, and he'd narrow his eyes in the middle of their conversation in his confusion.

"_I hate the rules of this situation."_ Hikaru whispered a bit after Akira had fallen asleep.

-


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Fizzle**

"Did we hang out a lot?" Akira asked as he walked through a convenience store, picking up certain things.

"_Uh..."_ Hikaru paused, leaning against Akira, which made the other boy shiver, and thought._ "Not really...At least, you didn't think so and I wasn't about to argue with that."_

"Then why..." Akira moved away from the cold spot, but Hikaru didn't fall. "Why am I the one who has to remember you? Shouldn't it be one of your friends?" he asked, picking up some bananas.

"_What?" _Hikaru puffed out his cheeks. _"We_ are _friends!"_

Akira shrugged.

"We didn't hang out much. So how could we have been friends? I highly doubt that someone you saw maybe once a week could be a friend." he sounded extremely doubtful.

"_That's what you..."_ Hikaru's argument died off and Akira turned to face him.

"Shindou, you faltered again." he said quietly, standing in the checkout line.

"_I _said_, that's what you always say when this subject comes up!"_ Hikaru sighed in annoyance.

"So we've always argued about this type of thing." Akira smiled. "Arguing is one point in favor of your friendship theory. But time spent together is on my side." The woman checking him out looked at him in confusion and Akira smiled. "Thank you." he bowed his head, taking his bag of groceries and leaving the store.

"_That lady thinks your crazy."_ Hikaru laughed.

"Well it's your fault. So I see no reason to be laughing."

"_You didn't have to say anything aloud. You could have just thought it."_

Akira stopped just outside his house and Hikaru blinked at him. Akira shook for a second and then Hikaru heard it.

'Why didn't you tell me this earlier?'

'_I didn't _think _about it.'_ Hikaru thought back. _"Aw screw it, I like talking better."_

"Always have." Akira muttered in annoyance.

He didn't seem to have realized he spoke, but Hikaru did and it made a bright smile light his face. He floated through Akira's doorway, but paused as a strange feeling went through his body. It felt like...a fizzle. Whatever a fizzle was. Hikaru shook it off and followed after Akira, who was further ahead than Hikaru remembered him being.

-

Akira sat down in front of a goban and Hikaru sat down beside it. Akira had said that Hikaru floating behind him made him nervous, so he sat to the side and Akira thought of him as just another spectator; Which he was. What was funny to Hikaru was that Akira seemed able to ignore everyone else, even his opponent, but he couldn't ignore Hikaru.

Hikaru watched as Akira played his first move, and then the opponent. It was going to be a teaching game. He shivered as he felt a 'fizzle' and then looked at the board. What? They were in the endgame!?

"I resign." Akira's opponent bowed his head and Akira started going over the game with him.

_"I'm gonna go and wait in the other room."_ Hikaru whispered and floated away. Akira came out shortly after and went over to him right away.

'Where'd you go? You weren't there during the game.' he questioned. Hikaru tilted his head.

"_What do you mean? I was there the entire time."_

'Well, I didn't feel you there the entire time.' Akira thought as they left the building, before Akira could get roped in by other pros or something.

"_But I didn't leave."_ Hikaru nearly whined. He hoped that Akira wasn't losing the ability to feel Hikaru. That'd be bad. But...maybe it was...The fizzle.

"Let's just drop it for now Shindou." Akira said as he waited for the bus at an empty bus stop.

Hikaru followed him home, feeling completely confused. What were the fizzles doing to him?

_You have to have someone remember you quickly. In 3 days, it'll be too late!_

Hikaru gasped softly. Sai had said he only had three days. He was well into day 2. Were the fizzles a way of reminding him that he was going to disappear. Hikaru turned to look at Akira.

'_No. I can't tell him. It'd push him to remember. I may have never paid attention in school, but I know that trying to make him remember will just slow him down.'_ Hikaru seemed to finally understand something. _'I'll be just like Sai. I'll disappear quietly, without a fuss. And the only one who will know I ever existed will be...Touya Akira.'_

Akira, on the other side of the bus, seemed to be deep in thought and Hikaru was glad that the other boy couldn't hear his thoughts unless he wanted him to. Hikaru looked out the window at the setting sun and gasped as a big fizzle hit him. He opened his eyes and looked around.

"_Oh great. Now I'm being teleported?"_ he asked in a huff. But then he realized something. _"Ack! I didn't move, the _train _did!" _he closed his eyes and when he opened them he looked around, seeing Akira's living room. _"I'm good."_

"Where have you been?" a voice asked angrily, and Hikaru flipped around to meet a disgruntled and tired looking Akira. "It's almost midnight."

Hikaru was about to retort when he realized something. Akira had been worried about him. He smiled instead.

"_I lost the train."_ he explained. Which was partially true._ "You should get to sleep though. Don't you have a game tomorrow?"_

Akira was tired. He realized that it was too stupid, even for Shindou, to lose a train when the tracks were right under him. But he was so tired that he really couldn't care right then. He'd think about it tomorrow. So instead, he walked with Hikaru to his bedroom and laid down to sleep.

Hikaru smiled sadly and let a single tear drop as he watched Akira sleep.

"_Is this what it was like for you Sai? Watching me sleep, but knowing that it couldn't last?" _he was suddenly crying some more, holding his arm up to catch them on his sleeve. _"I don't want to die. I don't want to disappear. I don't want to leave." _he let out a sob. _"Why can't things just stay like this? Or better yet, go back to how they were?"_

Hikaru felt a fizzle, but he didn't care.

"Mm...Shindou, are you alright?" Akira asked, sitting up in bed. "You sound like you're-" his eyes widened and he was fully awake. "Are you crying? What's wrong?"

Hikaru sniffled a bit and slowly composed himself. Akira listened to him and wished that he could do more to help the ghost boy he'd come to care for.

"_I..."_ Hikaru took a deep breath. _"I'm fine."_

"You are obviously not fine." Akira challenged. Hikaru glared.

"_I said I'm fine, so I'm fine!"_ he then pouted. _"Just because I cry sometimes doesn't mean I'm upset. It just means that I needed to cry is all." _he looked away from Akira, who was gaping at him.

"Fine. If you say so." Akira stood up and, if he weren't awake already, he woke up completely by standing up right into Hikaru.

"_Whoa that tickles!"_ Hikaru jumped away and Akira's skin went back to it's normal color. _"I've never noticed that before."_

"That was extremely cold. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a shower. A hot shower." Akira walked around Hikaru and grabbed some clothes from the dresser and leaving the room.

Hikaru wasn't sure, but he thought that maybe...Maybe Akira hadn't heard his comment about the tickling. Was he really fading away so much that Akira couldn't hear him? Hikaru took a deep breath to calm himself before he started crying again. He was a man, he wasn't supposed to cry this much!

He floated over to the bathroom door and stuck his head through, closing his eyes.

"_I'm going to head on over to the institute. So I'll meet you there, alright?"_ he asked. Akira nodded.

"Alright." Akira wouldn't let Shindou know this, but he'd come accustomed to having the ghost boy around him. He felt kind of sad that it seemed that he was getting ignored lately. But there had to be a reason, right?

-

Three games later, Hikaru was breathing a sigh of relief. He hadn't fizzled once today. Akira was walking home today and Hikaru was being careful to concentrate only on following him, so that he wouldn't disappear.

"Shindou..." Akira started as soon as they got home. He unlocked the door and walked inside. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"_Avoiding you?"_ Hikaru asked in surprise. _"I'm not avoiding you!"_

"Yes you are. You leave spontaneously, and you've started keeping secrets." Akira may have wanted to go on, but Hikaru interrupted.

"_I don't leave Akira. Really! And secrets. I've kept secrets all my life, and the ghost who haunted me kept secrets too! All the way up until he..."_ Hikaru stopped and went quiet.

"Well maybe you shouldn't follow in his footsteps." Akira said softly but with malice. Hikaru flared.

"_I'm not!"_ Hikaru growled. _"You're just being stupid! Just because I don't tell you everything about me doesn't me that I'm keeping secrets. Well, it does, but then you're keeping secrets too!"_

"Me?" Akira glared at the cold spot. "I'm not hiding anything from you!" he glared harsher. "You won't tell me anything!"

"Akira?" a female voice asked softly.

"_I'm telling you everything I can!"_

"Then tell me where you keep going!"

"_I'm not going anywhere!"_

"Yes you are!" Akira huffed. "This is ridiculous, arguing with someone like you to a pointless goal. If you really don't want to tell me, then why don't you just hurry up and go away already?"

"_But I don't want to go..."_ Hikaru whispered.

"If you can't trust me...then go away!" Akira yelled harshly.

"_Aki-"_ Hikaru gasped suddenly and inwardly cursed. This was a familiar feeling. _"Sorry."_ he managed, before the wind blew.

"Akira? Akira what's wrong?" Mrs. Touya asked. "Akira, please answer me." she asked softly.

Akira stared at where the cold spot had been. Something told him that this time...This time the ghost boy named Shindou...wouldn't be coming back. The wind blew past him through the open doorway and Akira felt a strange dampness on his cheeks. His eyes widened and he sniffled.

"Akira?" his mom tried again, surprised at the tears. Akira gave her a smile, a sad smile.

"I failed." he whispered before departing quickly to his bedroom. She stared after him in confusion.


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so glad you all liked this story! I really didn't like it except the first chapter and these last two. But I guess they were better than I thought, huh? So, this is the last chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as you apparently liked the rest of the story. -smile-**

**Chapter 8 - There and Back Again**

"_Did you really lose Akira?" a woman asked as the people around him murmured. "But he said that he'd never played before!"_

_Akira gasped._

"_I finally found you..." Akira was gasping for breath. He'd never run that fast before. "...Shindou!"_

"_He was at that store with all the computers." a man said as he entered the salon._

"_I'm going to get so far ahead that he'll never catch up!"_

"_Shindou!"_

"I won't play you_." he turned around from the window they were speaking through._

"_Shindou!"_

"So you never really thought I was Sai_?" Outside a computer shop._

"_Shindou!"_

"_He's an insei now."_

"_Hikaru Shindou!"_

"Akira! Akira wake up! You're going to be late!" a female voice called worriedly. "Akira!"

Akira's eyes shot open and he sat up. Looking at the clock revealed it to be a little past 10 in the morning. Akira's eyes widened and he jumped out of bed, hurrying to get ready for the day. He had a lot of matches today, and he didn't want to miss them.

Halfway through pulling on his jacket, one that made him look much older than he was, Akira stopped. He looked around his room and called out softly.

"Shindou?"

There was no answer, and Akira couldn't feel or see the cold.

"_If you can't trust me...then go away!"_

Akira lowered his eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry. Really I am." he muttered as he got ready, slowly. "So, if you're angry, or if you're trying to avoid me...You can come out now Shindou."

Akira pulled off his jacket suddenly and hung it back up. He quickly changed into clothes that he'd never thought of wearing, especially not to a match. He was wearing two shirts and casual pants. What had spurred this on? Akira looked at the ground, and then scanned his room.

"Really Shindou. Come out already. This is getting old."

Akira's tone was somewhat cold, but inside he was already panicking. Why wasn't Shindou responding to him? Did he really leave? Or...No...Shindou was never one to give up that easily. He would keep coming back. And Akira was supposed to remember him, right? So why had he left?

"Shindou?" he called softly, once more. After a minute of no response, Akira's thoughts snapped loose and he bolted from his room.

"Akira?" his mother asked as he ran into the kitchen.

"Mother, please tell the go association that I can not make it to my games today. I have something incredibly important to attend to." his determined yet scared look is probably what made his mother agree, and then he was pulling on his shoes and jacket and running out the door.

And suddenly Akira was running through the snow. He ran past the go salons and the go institute. He passed his middle school and Hikaru's, and he wasn't even sure what he was looking for.

Finally, Akira collapsed to the ground. No one was outside, as the weatherman had forecast a nasty storm. But Akira hadn't heard the news, so outside he was.

"Shindou!" he yelled as loud as he could, and then took gulping breaths. He was so tired.

The snow was soaking his pants, and Akira knew he'd be sick tomorrow. He didn't like the cold and had near zero tolerance for it. So why was he out here in this weather? When a storm could blow up at any moment, why was he out here looking for a ghost?

"You did exist, and I know it." he tried. "I've been trying to remember you, but I failed you last night. You're gone. You're gone Shindou...I was too late." Akira didn't fight the tears.

Hikaru and him had never been the greatest of friends, Akira didn't even consider them as such. But he'd wanted to be. Akira had wanted to be with Hikaru every moment that he could, so that they could play each other and never get bored. But Hikaru...Hikaru had never existed? No. He'd been erased.

Akira wasn't exactly sure what powers could erase a person from the world, but he didn't care! Hikaru Shindou had needed his help, had come specifically to him...And Akira had failed him.

Now all he wanted was to be with Hikaru, to have Hikaru stay with him. He liked the other boy's presence, and he never wanted to lose him again. But first, first he had to get Hikaru back! But how!? Hikaru was gone and...

"Hikaru Shindou...Come back to me. Please. I'm sorry for everything, really I am."

The wind picked up and Akira hugged his jacket to him, wishing he'd worn warmer clothes.

"Hikaru!" Akira managed to hear himself over the suddenly howling wind and the snow that was getting tossed around, but then stopped talking. It was so cold!

It was cold, just like Hikaru when Akira stepped through him. It was just like...Akira turned his head to look behind him and let out a single tear and smile. His eyes closed and the cold wrapped around him like a blanket, suddenly becoming quite warm. And Akira fell asleep in the cold, because his body had become so numb that he couldn't feel the cold. All he could feel was the pain and the warmth of his own tears, caked on to his cheeks.

-

"Akira!" a female voice yelled angrily. "I've had to cancel all your games today! What is with you!? Wake up!"

Akira's eyes snapped open yet again and he looked around without sitting up. He was laying in his own bed. Akira placed a hand on his head, feeling as if it would explode, and realized that he had a fever.

He heard something. His mother was talking to him. But Akira wasn't listening. And then she opened his door and came over, moving his hand and replacing it with her own. She pulled it away, and Akira guessed that she was making a fuss about his temperature. But again, he wasn't listening.

"Stop crying Touya Akira...Stop crying..." he whispered Hikaru's words as the tears fell from his eyes. "Was it all just a dream? That I saw him there?"

Akira voice was broken from the fever and his own tears.

"Did I really go out looking? Did I chase him?"

Akira didn't dare open his eyes, even when his mother opened the door and walked over to him. When did she leave? A wet rag was place on his head, and Akira heard the door close.

"I really failed then huh?" he whispered to himself. "I failed Hikaru, and I failed myself..."

"Now, I wouldn't say that." a voice teased. "If that were true, then how is this possible? I don't know of any 'failure' that you're talking about Touya."

Akira's eyes snapped open and he turned his head sharply to look at the boy his age that was sitting in the chair next to his bed that hadn't been there when he'd fallen asleep. He narrowed his eyes, the fever clouding his vision.

"Hikaru...Shindou?" he asked softly.

"Does anyone else have these bangs?" he tugged on the blonde hair for example. Akira started crying again, and he wasn't sure if it was the fever's pain, or something else. "Hey, why are you crying?"

"I'm sorry." Akira said, quite calmly, before he fell asleep again.

"Ah man." Hikaru sighed, tapping his own forehead in thought. "This is a pain." he shrugged as the door opened.

"Shindou-san...Your friends are waiting for you outside." Akira's mom informed him. "The one with wild brown hair is getting upset."

Hikaru laughed. "I'm leaving then. He fell asleep anyway."

Hikaru stood from his seat and left the room with a little wave back at Akira. He met up with his friends outside and grinned.

"What happened?" Isumi asked.

"He fell asleep before we could really talk. He's got a blaring fever." Hikaru touched his forehead in example.

"Why'd we come here anyway?" Waya asked as they walked away. Hikaru grinned.

"I just wanted to thank him for something. But I can do it later." he grinned wider at their confused faces. "Don't worry about it guys. Let's just go play some Go!" he ran off and the other two ran after him.

Fin


End file.
